Chapter 13: Safety

When all was said and done, Toichi was immensely relieved. The doctor reported in a calm and calculated manner the extent of Kaito's injuries, the whole of which did not include either anal penetration or rough-handling of the boy's more private parts. To know that he had at least been in time to prevent his full-on rape, even if Kaito had suffered sexual abuse, strangulation and a beating, lifted a weight off his chest that had settled there the moment he'd realized Kaito was missing.

The doctor wondered for a moment if the thief was aware of the fact that his relief showed in the ever-so-slight relaxation of his shoulders and tightly-drawn facial muscles. Doctor Fujiwara couldn't even begin to imagine how terrified the man had been, thinking that his four-year-old son might have been raped of all things. The doctor knew that, had he been in the thief's place, he wouldn't have been able to hold himself together even a fraction of how well the Kaitou kept it together. He'd have been in hysterics himself... But the lack of outward signs didn't at all make Fujiwara question the Kaitou's love for the boy; not even for a moment. It shown evident in the man's eyes every time he looked at his young one's face.

The doctor told Toichi that he could take the boy home, and that only minor observation was needed on his part. He didn't bother to tell the man that psychological ramifications might be the most permanent result of the boy's injuries: He was sure the man knew, and wouldn't appreciate hearing it spoken aloud. The doctor also didn't bother to tell him what to monitor, confident that the thief knew well enough what to look out for as far as his son's health was concerned. If the doctor had to take a guess, he'd say that the Kaitou would watch the necessary sites of injury and then some. Fujiwara hardly knew the man, but something about the non-violence and easy grace of the father told him that the boy would likely be positively coddled for the next several days, if not weeks to follow.

Toichi scooped his son into his arms, wrapping him once more protectively in his cape as the boy shivered, whispering a quiet and polite "thank you" to the other man as he flowed gracefully out of the room like water. Three days from then the doctor would find a decent sum of money within a white envelope upon his kitchen counter, but for now, the simple sign of genuine gratitude from the respectable thief was more than enough.

Toichi strapped Kaito into the car once more, doing a quick wardrobe change once inside the privacy of the cabin and switching the license plates. Toichi rolled the car into motion for the final time that night, this time taking his Kaito home, where he should have left him from the beginning. The ride was silent and smooth, Toichi listening to the still-strained breaths of his son next to him, relishing the sound which proved his boy was alive.

When they arrived home, the first thing Toichi did was get Kaito a fresh change of clothes and give him a warm bath. The boy slept through most of the ordeal, trusting his father to take care of him and resting his head against the man's shoulder nearly the entire time, lulling between sleep and half-consciousness.

Once Kaito was clean and dry, Toichi carried him off to bed. He paused in the entrance to his son's room before briskly taking him to his own shared room with Chikage, not daring to lay his son to rest in a room which still sported posters of his attacker. In the morning he would rip them off the walls and, along with anything else that had a direct connection to the man, burn it all. For now, he curled up with his son safely tucked into his arms upon his king-sized bed, the stripling fitting easily against his chest, brown locks tickling his jaw as he cradled Kaito's head beneath his chin.

Try as he might, Toichi could not sleep, his mind painfully awake the whole night long despite the exhaustion that had settled over him. He watched over his son through the night, protecting him, though from what he wasn't sure. Kaito slept mostly soundly, a whimper or shudder racking his body every once in a while, and every time this happened, Toichi would tighten his embrace of the boy with new resolve to protect him even from his own dreams.

They stayed like that all through the night until morning, when Chikage finally arrived home and searched the house for them, finding them curled up in the large bed. Toichi shifted to allow her to move in under the covers with them, both of the phantoms careful not to awaken their son, Chikage moving to rest her husband's head in her lap as she held her most precious boys. When Toichi silently turned his face into her dress and a slight dampness met her skin minutes later, she didn't say anything. She knew when she married him that the man secretly had a big bleeding heart; that he was such a gentle creature, despite the strength and control he also possessed. Unlike Chikage, who had often used gory tricks to get what she wanted, he was more civil and benevolent than anyone else she'd ever met, title of thief be damned! She'd never seen him cry, and would never see him cry again, but on this night, she wholeheartedly embraced him and their downtrodden little Kaito as the soft beings that they were, comforting them even as they drifted to sleep, taking over for her husband in the sacred duty of watching them while they slept.

A/N: Reviews are appreciated, if you wanna drop one by me. Thanks for reading~! ^^